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Mont Clare, Pennsylvania

January 29, 2023

Mont Clare is a village in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The village is located on the left bank of the Schuylkill River opposite Phoenixville and Chester Copunty. Mont Clare is at the site of the former Jacobs' ford. Mont Clare hosts the only functional lock and one of only two remaining watered stretches of the Schuylkill Canal. Mont Clare was the birthplace of the infamous outlaw Sundance Kid.

Mont Clare
formerly Quincyville
Village
Schuylkill Canal Lock 60 in Mont Clare
Etymology: Mont Clare/Clair from poet Bayard Taylor
Mont Clare
Location of Mont Clare in Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°08′10″N 75°30′24″W / 40.13611°N 75.50667°W / 40.13611; -75.50667Coordinates: 40°08′10″N 75°30′24″W / 40.13611°N 75.50667°W / 40.13611; -75.50667
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyMontgomery
TownshipUpper Providence
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • Total1,483
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
ZIP Code
19453
Area codes484 and 610

The village was originally named Quincyville and has also been spelled Quinzyville, Mont Clair, and Montclare.

History

Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, there was an aboriginal American encampment or village on the site, of the Unami speaking Lenni-Lenape tribe.[2] All but a few individuals had vacated the area by 1773.[3]

Colonial and Revolutionary War eras

The site's original English colonization was as part of the Duke of York's holdings. In 1681, King Charles II granted the land to William Penn, creating the Province of Pennsylvania. The site became part of Penn's Manor of Gilberts, as well as part of Philadelphia County. In 1729, Providence Township was created out of much of the Manor, including the site.

The earliest recorded resident of European descent on the site appears to have been Patrick Gordon, who settled in Providence Township, along the Schuylkill in what is now Mont Clare. This Gordon was Deputy Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1726, until his death in 1736.[4]

In 1761, another Patrick Gordon, relation to Deputy Governor Gordon unknown, leased a "plantation" from the sons of William Penn. This Gordon lived in an improved cave in the hill below where the Mont Clare railroad station would be located over 100 years later. Newspaper accounts show him to be living in the vicinity as early as 1757. He was reportedly unmarried and owned female slaves which lived in the cave with him. Those newspaper notices show he also came into possession of his neighbor's livestock on occasion.[5]

In Colonial America, the ford drew traffic through Quincyville. Bean's History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania suggests Quincyville was the location of Joseph Richardson's 1766 licensed inn.[6]

The ford was used by American and British troops during the American Revolutionary War. In Fall 1777, Lord Cornwallis' troops forced a passage of the ford. This move ultimately led to the British taking Philadelphia.[5] Gordon's Cave became the site of a very minor American victory when a British squad tarried there to liberate a roasting goose and were captured by militia.[7]

In 1784, Philadelphia County was split and the village became part of the newly formed Montgomery County.

On December 3 1785, 700 acres (280 ha) of land at what is now Mont Clare, were sold by John Penn and John Penn, Jr., grandsons of William Penn, to Quaker John Jacobs for £2,600.[5] The first Jacobs to live on the property was colonial Assemblyman and future Representative at the 2nd United States Congress, Israel Jacobs.[8]

In 1805, Providence Township was split along the Perkiomen Creek, leaving the village in the newly formed Upper Providence Township.

Canal era

In the 1820s, the construction of the Oakes Reach canal, of the "Schuylkill Navigation", through the village brought more commerce and traffic. The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) Oakes Reach started in Mont Clare, ran down past neighboring Port Providence, and reentered the river at Oaks. Black Rock Dam, Lock 60 and a house for its lock tender were built in Mont Clare. In the mid-20th century, the lower mile was filled in when the river was dredged, however the upper portion was kept watered at the insistence of Mont Clare and Port Providence residents who use it for recreation.

In the winter of 1843-1844, Joseph Whitaker, ironmaster and state legislator from Phoenixville, obtained a charter for the first Mont Clare Bridge. Starting in the summer of 1844, the bridge was constructed to replace the ford.[9] In 1846, Whitaker sold his interest in the Phoenix Iron Works and moved across the river to Quincyville to land he had purchased there. Whitaker built a dwelling and a steam saw mill. Whitaker's residence was named Mont Clare (or Montclair, see below) at the 1847 suggestion of poet Bayard Taylor,[10][11] setting the stage for the future name of the village.

By 1859, Quincyville consisted of "an inn, store, steam saw mill, lumberyard, and seventeen houses. There was formerly an iron foundry and machine shop here, which ha[d] been converted to a paper mill". "There was also a post office here, which was discontinued in the spring of 1858."[12]

The post office reopened from 1861 to 1868, but with the name Mont Clare.[13] Through the 1870s, the village name transitioned from Quincyville to Mont Clare (see below).

Rail era

 
Mont Clare firehouse on Bridge Street in 2015

Between 1882 and 1884, the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad was completed between Philadelphia and Reading with a station in Mont Clare.[14] The line comes up from Philadelphia on the river bluff then turns out above the northern part of Mont Clare on a high viaduct that then crosses the Schuylkill River into Phoenixville. The line crosses what was the front yard of the Mont Clare estate house. Fortunately the house has an equal rear entryway, so they moved the driveway to the former back door. In 1900, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) combined the line with five other subsidiaries to form the Schuylkill and Juniata Railroad.[15] In 1902, the PRR eliminated the subsidiaries and took direct ownership of the line.[14] In late 1906, an express train derailed in Mont Clare, narrowly avoiding plunging into the river and any loss of life.[16] PRR discontinued the Mont Clare station between 1955 and 1958.[17][18] After the PRR successor, Penn Central's, failure and the takeover of its successor, Conrail, the line now belongs to Norfolk Southern, who used it for freight. After two years of no local use, the line was formally taken out of service at the end of 2007.[19] As of 2009 one rail has been observed to be disconnected just south of the Bridge Street(PA 29) overpass in Mont Clare. The line is part of the alignment in the moribund Schuylkill Valley Metro light rail proposal, and the more recent, and less ambitious, Green Line rail proposal. Both proposals would reestablish rail service from Mont Clare to Philadelphia, via Norristown and Paoli, respectively.

In 1886, the Mont Clare Post Office was reopened, although it took the name Montclare from 1895 to 1905.[13] The Post Office remained open until the decline of small post offices at the end of the 20th century. Eventually Mont Clare was assigned the ZIP Code 19453. At the end, the Post Office was located at the eastern corner of Bridge and Walnut Streets in a small storefront in an apartment building. The Mont Clare Post Office finally closed again near the turn of the 21st century. Village mail is delivered by the Phoenixville Post Office to the still active 19453 ZIP Code, as well as to the Phoenixville Post Office's own 19460 ZIP code area, which entirely surrounds 19453.

In 1900, the volunteer Mont Clare Fire Company was formed. Chartered in 1910, Company 55 celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2010. Besides traditional fire and rescue, they have water rescue units with boats and divers, reflecting the river and canal location of Mont Clare.[20] In 2012, under economic pressure from the township, the Company merged with the volunteer Oaks Fire Company to form the Black Rock Volunteer Fire Company, Montgomery County Station 99.[21] The Black Rock Company continued operations from the Mont Clare and Oaks fire houses for many years. Circa 2021 the firehouse signage and many vehicles were removed.

Village names

 
1906 Topographic Map of Mont Clare

The village gradually changed its name from Quincyville to Mont Clare in the latter half of the 19th century, adopting the name of the estate of one of its most prominent residents. An early recognition was the naming of the reopened village Post Office as "Mont Clare" in 1861. In 1871[22] and 1872[23] atlases, the village is still labeled Quincyville, but Samuel W. Pennypacker refers to only Mont Clare in his 1872 Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity.[24] An 1873 map shows it as Mont Clare.[25] In an 1877 atlas, it is shown as "Mt. Clare",[26] but that atlas' included history of Upper Providence refers to it as "Quincyville or Mont Clare"[27] and "Quincyville, perhaps better known as Mont Clare".[28] There is a story that the railroad dubbing the local station Montclair after Whitaker's estate was the source of the name change.[29] However the railroad and its Mont Clare station were constructed in the 1880s, well after the name appeared beyond the estate. Some references show both names simultaneously. The county map in Bean's 1884 history shows Mont Clare on the river and Quincyville as an adjacent village, inland.[30] Harley's 1881 history refers to both names individually in a list of Upper Providence villages.[31][32] So while there is some possibility there were once two villages, the 1871 and 1877 atlases are the most detailed and both have insets detailing the property ownership of the same village on the river, but with the name changed. The 1895 atlas has no mention of Quincyville.[33]

The spellings of the village's names are the subject of some historical debate. There are several 1850s references to Quinzyville, including legislation[34] and Post Office lists.[35] [Note: A version of Bean's History on the web names it Quineyville, but this is a transcription error.[36]] An 1895 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer claims that Bayard Taylor spelled the estate's name Mont Clair 48 years previously and notes the railroad company's using the spelling Mont Clare might be due to a "blind guess" that would be "near enough to pass".[10] Yet Pennypacker, who grew up in his grandfather's Mont Clare estate, consistently spells the name Mont Clare in his Annals of Phoenixville and attributes the estate's name to Bayard with that spelling. But Phoebe H. Gilkyson, a Whitaker great-granddaughter and later resident of the estate, refers to the house as Montclair in her papers.[37] In any event, Mont Clare is the modern spelling listed by both the USPS and GNIS, although the latter lists Montclare as a variant, as used on the map below. In 2012, GNIS added Quincyville, Quinzyville, and Mont Clair as additional variant names for Mont Clare, based on this article and its references.

Historical maps

  • 1849 Map of Montgomery County - Showing bridge, but not many residences in the village
  • 1871 Map of Quincyville and Upper Providence Township[22]
  • 1877 Map of "Mt. Clare" and Upper Providence Township [26]
  • 1884 Map of Montgomery County EnlargedOriginal[4]

Geography

Mont Clare is located inside a bend of the Schuylkill River, which forms the western and southern sides of the village. The village is at a historical ford and present day bridge. Originally settled between the river and a bluff, the village has expanded northeastward up the bluff along Bridge Street (PA Route 29). The lower part of Mont Clare is in the river flood plain.

In 1995, Montgomery County designated the Mont Clare Cliffs and Ravines as a natural area "priority site".[38] Extending upriver from Mont Clare along the Schuylkill, this series of "steep cliffs and deeply etched ravines" are formed by the intersection of hard Lockatong Formation argillites with the river.[39]

Arts and culture

Mont Clare is primarily a residential community. The village has two churches: the Holy Archangel Michael Byzantine Catholic Church (locally known as St. Michael's) and the Otterbein United Methodist Church. Commercial concerns include Produce Junction, Mont Clare Deli & Market (the old Eagle's Nest Deli & Market 1996-2022), a professional office building, and two local automobile repair shops. A ten-minute walk across the bridge accesses downtown Phoenixville's restaurants, pubs, and theater.

Mont Clare is the site of Lock 60, a fully restored and operating lock at the upstream end of the Oakes Reach of the Schuylkill Canal. The lock, tow path, the restored lock tender's house, and surrounding area form a park maintained by the Schuylkill Canal Association (SCA). The park is at the center of the "Schuylkill Navigation Canal, Oakes Reach Section" Historic District. The park includes a floating dock in the canal and a launch area on the river. This complements a portage trail, between the downstream end of the canal reach and the river. The river, portage, canal, and park form a 5-mile (8.0 km) canoe and kayak loop. St. Michael's has a large recreation area on the left bank of the canal, below the lock tender's house. SCA's annual summer Canal Day festival usually spans both parks. St. Michael's park also hosts the annual Ancient Order of Hibernians local Irish Festival. There is another park, Port Providence Park, on the canal between Mont Clare and Port Providence. Until 2020, Mont Clare was the western end of the contiguous Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) out of Philadelphia. The SRT now crosses the Mont Clare Bridge to continue westward through Phoenixville. Montgomery County plans to improve and extend the parallel Schuylkill East Trail on the left bank of the river, westward from Mont Clare, creating a major trail junction at Mont Clare.[40]

Joseph Whitaker's Mont Clare estate home still stands on the corner of Bridge and Grace Streets (Grace was Joseph's wife). The home is currently occupied by three generations of Whitaker descendants.

Notable people

By 1760, David Todd had settled near Mont Clare.[41] His sons, John; Robert; and Levi, were notable pioneers and helped found Lexington, Kentucky. Many of David's descendants were still living in the township in 1884. The most well known Todd descendants were Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of U. S. President Abraham Lincoln, and their son, Robert Todd Lincoln, Secretary of War under President Chester A. Arthur.[42]

In 1855, future Mennonite Church leader and publisher, John F. Funk, had his first job teaching in a one-room school house in Quincyville.[43]

The eventual 23rd Governor of Pennsylvania, Samuel W. Pennypacker, spent his boyhood at the Mont Clare estate of his maternal grandfather, Joseph Whitaker.[44][45] In 1862, Pennypacker had his first professional job teaching in a one-room school house in the village.[46]

Mont Clare is the 1867 birthplace of the infamous outlaw Harry Alonzo "The Sundance Kid" Longabaugh.[47] The movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, erroneously states Sundance was born in New Jersey[48] (possibly due to confusion with Montclair, New Jersey). Sundance was born at 122 Jacobs Street.[49][50] Sundance's mother's family, Place, was from Mont Clare, with one relative, Daniel Webster Place, marrying Mary E. Pennypacker in 1873.[51] Harry A. Place was the alias the Sundance Kid used when he married the woman known to history as Etta Place. Sundance's parents, Josiah and Annie (Place) Longabaugh, and his sisters Samanna and Emma, are buried in the nearby Morris Cemetery in Phoenixville.

Between 1882 and 1899, poet and local historian Christian Carmack Sanderson grew up living in Mont Clare and adjacent Port Providence.[52] The home at 205 Jacobs Street is referred to as "The Little Brick House" in his writings.

In 1916, the Mont Clare estate was occupied by Phoebe Hunter Gilkyson, a great granddaughter of Joseph Whitaker. Mrs. Gilkyson was a noted literary and social figure, whose poems and stories were published in Harper's, Scribner's and McClure's Magazines. She also wrote a newspaper column. Her husband Hamilton H. Gilkyson, Jr. was a local business and civic leader.[44] Phoebe's son, Terry Gilkyson was a songwriter and musician. Terry co-authored the chart topping Memories Are Made of This and wrote the Oscar nominated "The Bare Necessities" from the 1967 movie The Jungle Book.

References

  1. ^ "2010 Demographic Profile". Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  2. ^ Pennypacker, Samuel Whitaker (1872). Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity: From the Settlement to the Year 1871. Phoenixville, PA: Bavis & Pennypacker, printers. pp. 5–7.
  3. ^ Ibid., p. 10.
  4. ^ a b Bean, Theodore W., ed. (1884). HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA, ILLUSTRATED, 1884. Philadelphia: Everts & Peck. p. 1047.
  5. ^ a b c Pennypacker, Samuel Whitaker; J. O. K. Robarts (1910) [c. 1880]. "The Story of Patrick Gordon". Historical Sketches: A Collection of Papers. Vol. IV. Norristown, PA: Historical Society of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. pp. 26–30. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
  6. ^ Bean, p. 348
  7. ^ Pennypacker, Annals of Phoenixville, p. 107
  8. ^ Pennypacker, Annals of Phoenixville, p. 282
  9. ^ Ibid., p. 175
  10. ^ a b From The Philadelphia Inquirer (6 December 1895). "Named by Bayard Taylor". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  11. ^ Pennypacker, Annals of Phoenixville, p. 144.
  12. ^ Buck, William Joseph (1859). History of Montgomery County Within the Schuylkill Valley. Norristown: E. L. Acker. p. 101.
  13. ^ a b "Post Offices - Pennsylvania - Montgomery County". Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  14. ^ a b "Corporate Genealogy - The Pennsylvania Railroad". Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  15. ^ Burgess, George H.; Kennedy, Miles C. (1949). "Chapter L: Simplification of Corporate Structure" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1845-1945. Philadelphia: The Pennsylvania Railroad Company. p. 509. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  16. ^ "In Nearby Counties". Reading Eagle. Reading, PA. 19 November 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  17. ^ "The Pennsylvania Railroad - Regional Map" (PDF). November 1955. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  18. ^ "Philadelphia Region/Philadelphia District Map". Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  19. ^ "Surface transportation Board Discontinuance of Service Exemption". Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  20. ^ . Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  21. ^ "Black Rock Volunteer Fire Company". Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  22. ^ a b Hopkins, G. M. (1871). . Archived from the original on 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  23. ^ Walling, Henry F.; O. W. Gray (1872). New Topographical Atlas of the State of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Stedman, Brown & Lyon. p. 79. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  24. ^ Pennypacker, Annals of Phoenixville, pp. various.
  25. ^ "Old Maps - Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area". Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  26. ^ a b Scott, J. D. (1877). . pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  27. ^ Ibid., p. 27.
  28. ^ Ibid., p. 28.
  29. ^ "The Schuylkill Canal, or Oakes Reach". Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  30. ^ Bean, p. 1.
  31. ^ Harley, J. K. (1891) [1881]. A History and Geography of Montgomery County, Pa., together with County and Township Government. Philadelphia. p. 67.
  32. ^ While the 1891 Revised Edition of Harley was used, it does not list the Penna. RR line in Upper Providence, so it is referred to here by the original 1881 publication date.
  33. ^ "1895 Atlas Pennsylvania - Q-Rh". Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  34. ^ United States; George Minot; George P. Sanger (1850). The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America. Dennis. p. 397. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  35. ^ Tompkins Lech, Daniel D. (1857). List of post offices in the United States. John C. Rives. p. 118. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  36. ^ "BEAN'S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER LXXII. UPPER PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP". pp. 1057–8. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  37. ^ Correspondence with Neal Gilkyson Thorpe, Phoebe's daughter, 28 September 2010.
  38. ^ Rhoads, Anne F.; Timothy A. Block (June 30, 2007). (PDF). p. 219. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  39. ^ Ibid., p. 212.
  40. ^ "MONTCO HAS PLAN TO BUILD 166 MILES OF BICYCLE TRAILS".
  41. ^ "UPPER AND LOWER PROVIDENCE TWP MAP". Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  42. ^ Bean, p. 1048.
  43. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  44. ^ a b Hunsicker, Clifton Swenk (1923). Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a History. Vol. 3. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co. pp. 544–5. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  45. ^ Pennypacker, Samuel Whitaker (1918). The Autobiography of a Pennsylvanian. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co. p. 61. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  46. ^ "SAMUEL W. PENNYPACKER PAPERS". Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  47. ^ . Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  48. ^ "Goofs for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  49. ^ "Harry A. Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid". Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  50. ^ "Find Pennsylvania Hometowns Here". Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  51. ^ . Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  52. ^ . Archived from the original on 27 February 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2009.

January 29, 2023
mont, clare, pennsylvania, mont, clare, village, upper, providence, township, montgomery, county, pennsylvania, village, located, left, bank, schuylkill, river, opposite, phoenixville, chester, copunty, mont, clare, site, former, jacobs, ford, mont, clare, hos. Mont Clare is a village in Upper Providence Township Montgomery County Pennsylvania The village is located on the left bank of the Schuylkill River opposite Phoenixville and Chester Copunty Mont Clare is at the site of the former Jacobs ford Mont Clare hosts the only functional lock and one of only two remaining watered stretches of the Schuylkill Canal Mont Clare was the birthplace of the infamous outlaw Sundance Kid Mont Clare formerly QuincyvilleVillageSchuylkill Canal Lock 60 in Mont ClareEtymology Mont Clare Clair from poet Bayard TaylorMont ClareLocation of Mont Clare in PennsylvaniaCoordinates 40 08 10 N 75 30 24 W 40 13611 N 75 50667 W 40 13611 75 50667 Coordinates 40 08 10 N 75 30 24 W 40 13611 N 75 50667 W 40 13611 75 50667CountryUnited StatesStatePennsylvaniaCountyMontgomeryTownshipUpper ProvidencePopulation 2010 1 Total1 483Time zoneUTC 5 Eastern Standard Time Summer DST UTC 4 Eastern Daylight Time ZIP Code19453Area codes484 and 610The village was originally named Quincyville and has also been spelled Quinzyville Mont Clair and Montclare Contents 1 History 1 1 Colonial and Revolutionary War eras 1 2 Canal era 1 3 Rail era 1 4 Village names 1 5 Historical maps 2 Geography 3 Arts and culture 4 Notable people 5 ReferencesHistory EditPrior to the European colonization of the Americas there was an aboriginal American encampment or village on the site of the Unami speaking Lenni Lenape tribe 2 All but a few individuals had vacated the area by 1773 3 Colonial and Revolutionary War eras Edit The site s original English colonization was as part of the Duke of York s holdings In 1681 King Charles II granted the land to William Penn creating the Province of Pennsylvania The site became part of Penn s Manor of Gilberts as well as part of Philadelphia County In 1729 Providence Township was created out of much of the Manor including the site The earliest recorded resident of European descent on the site appears to have been Patrick Gordon who settled in Providence Township along the Schuylkill in what is now Mont Clare This Gordon was Deputy Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1726 until his death in 1736 4 In 1761 another Patrick Gordon relation to Deputy Governor Gordon unknown leased a plantation from the sons of William Penn This Gordon lived in an improved cave in the hill below where the Mont Clare railroad station would be located over 100 years later Newspaper accounts show him to be living in the vicinity as early as 1757 He was reportedly unmarried and owned female slaves which lived in the cave with him Those newspaper notices show he also came into possession of his neighbor s livestock on occasion 5 In Colonial America the ford drew traffic through Quincyville Bean s History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania suggests Quincyville was the location of Joseph Richardson s 1766 licensed inn 6 The ford was used by American and British troops during the American Revolutionary War In Fall 1777 Lord Cornwallis troops forced a passage of the ford This move ultimately led to the British taking Philadelphia 5 Gordon s Cave became the site of a very minor American victory when a British squad tarried there to liberate a roasting goose and were captured by militia 7 In 1784 Philadelphia County was split and the village became part of the newly formed Montgomery County On December 3 1785 700 acres 280 ha of land at what is now Mont Clare were sold by John Penn and John Penn Jr grandsons of William Penn to Quaker John Jacobs for 2 600 5 The first Jacobs to live on the property was colonial Assemblyman and future Representative at the 2nd United States Congress Israel Jacobs 8 In 1805 Providence Township was split along the Perkiomen Creek leaving the village in the newly formed Upper Providence Township Canal era Edit In the 1820s the construction of the Oakes Reach canal of the Schuylkill Navigation through the village brought more commerce and traffic The 3 5 mile 5 6 km Oakes Reach started in Mont Clare ran down past neighboring Port Providence and reentered the river at Oaks Black Rock Dam Lock 60 and a house for its lock tender were built in Mont Clare In the mid 20th century the lower mile was filled in when the river was dredged however the upper portion was kept watered at the insistence of Mont Clare and Port Providence residents who use it for recreation In the winter of 1843 1844 Joseph Whitaker ironmaster and state legislator from Phoenixville obtained a charter for the first Mont Clare Bridge Starting in the summer of 1844 the bridge was constructed to replace the ford 9 In 1846 Whitaker sold his interest in the Phoenix Iron Works and moved across the river to Quincyville to land he had purchased there Whitaker built a dwelling and a steam saw mill Whitaker s residence was named Mont Clare or Montclair see below at the 1847 suggestion of poet Bayard Taylor 10 11 setting the stage for the future name of the village By 1859 Quincyville consisted of an inn store steam saw mill lumberyard and seventeen houses There was formerly an iron foundry and machine shop here which ha d been converted to a paper mill There was also a post office here which was discontinued in the spring of 1858 12 The post office reopened from 1861 to 1868 but with the name Mont Clare 13 Through the 1870s the village name transitioned from Quincyville to Mont Clare see below Rail era Edit Mont Clare firehouse on Bridge Street in 2015 Between 1882 and 1884 the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad was completed between Philadelphia and Reading with a station in Mont Clare 14 The line comes up from Philadelphia on the river bluff then turns out above the northern part of Mont Clare on a high viaduct that then crosses the Schuylkill River into Phoenixville The line crosses what was the front yard of the Mont Clare estate house Fortunately the house has an equal rear entryway so they moved the driveway to the former back door In 1900 the Pennsylvania Railroad PRR combined the line with five other subsidiaries to form the Schuylkill and Juniata Railroad 15 In 1902 the PRR eliminated the subsidiaries and took direct ownership of the line 14 In late 1906 an express train derailed in Mont Clare narrowly avoiding plunging into the river and any loss of life 16 PRR discontinued the Mont Clare station between 1955 and 1958 17 18 After the PRR successor Penn Central s failure and the takeover of its successor Conrail the line now belongs to Norfolk Southern who used it for freight After two years of no local use the line was formally taken out of service at the end of 2007 19 As of 2009 one rail has been observed to be disconnected just south of the Bridge Street PA 29 overpass in Mont Clare The line is part of the alignment in the moribund Schuylkill Valley Metro light rail proposal and the more recent and less ambitious Green Line rail proposal Both proposals would reestablish rail service from Mont Clare to Philadelphia via Norristown and Paoli respectively In 1886 the Mont Clare Post Office was reopened although it took the name Montclare from 1895 to 1905 13 The Post Office remained open until the decline of small post offices at the end of the 20th century Eventually Mont Clare was assigned the ZIP Code 19453 At the end the Post Office was located at the eastern corner of Bridge and Walnut Streets in a small storefront in an apartment building The Mont Clare Post Office finally closed again near the turn of the 21st century Village mail is delivered by the Phoenixville Post Office to the still active 19453 ZIP Code as well as to the Phoenixville Post Office s own 19460 ZIP code area which entirely surrounds 19453 In 1900 the volunteer Mont Clare Fire Company was formed Chartered in 1910 Company 55 celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2010 Besides traditional fire and rescue they have water rescue units with boats and divers reflecting the river and canal location of Mont Clare 20 In 2012 under economic pressure from the township the Company merged with the volunteer Oaks Fire Company to form the Black Rock Volunteer Fire Company Montgomery County Station 99 21 The Black Rock Company continued operations from the Mont Clare and Oaks fire houses for many years Circa 2021 the firehouse signage and many vehicles were removed Village names Edit 1906 Topographic Map of Mont Clare The village gradually changed its name from Quincyville to Mont Clare in the latter half of the 19th century adopting the name of the estate of one of its most prominent residents An early recognition was the naming of the reopened village Post Office as Mont Clare in 1861 In 1871 22 and 1872 23 atlases the village is still labeled Quincyville but Samuel W Pennypacker refers to only Mont Clare in his 1872 Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity 24 An 1873 map shows it as Mont Clare 25 In an 1877 atlas it is shown as Mt Clare 26 but that atlas included history of Upper Providence refers to it as Quincyville or Mont Clare 27 and Quincyville perhaps better known as Mont Clare 28 There is a story that the railroad dubbing the local station Montclair after Whitaker s estate was the source of the name change 29 However the railroad and its Mont Clare station were constructed in the 1880s well after the name appeared beyond the estate Some references show both names simultaneously The county map in Bean s 1884 history shows Mont Clare on the river and Quincyville as an adjacent village inland 30 Harley s 1881 history refers to both names individually in a list of Upper Providence villages 31 32 So while there is some possibility there were once two villages the 1871 and 1877 atlases are the most detailed and both have insets detailing the property ownership of the same village on the river but with the name changed The 1895 atlas has no mention of Quincyville 33 The spellings of the village s names are the subject of some historical debate There are several 1850s references to Quinzyville including legislation 34 and Post Office lists 35 Note A version of Bean sHistoryon the web names it Quineyville but this is a transcription error 36 An 1895 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer claims that Bayard Taylor spelled the estate s name Mont Clair 48 years previously and notes the railroad company s using the spelling Mont Clare might be due to a blind guess that would be near enough to pass 10 Yet Pennypacker who grew up in his grandfather s Mont Clare estate consistently spells the name Mont Clare in his Annals of Phoenixville and attributes the estate s name to Bayard with that spelling But Phoebe H Gilkyson a Whitaker great granddaughter and later resident of the estate refers to the house as Montclair in her papers 37 In any event Mont Clare is the modern spelling listed by both the USPS and GNIS although the latter lists Montclare as a variant as used on the map below In 2012 GNIS added Quincyville Quinzyville and Mont Clair as additional variant names for Mont Clare based on this article and its references Historical maps Edit 1849 Map of Montgomery County Showing bridge but not many residences in the village 1871 Map of Quincyville and Upper Providence Township 22 1877 Map of Mt Clare and Upper Providence Township 26 1884 Map of Montgomery County EnlargedOriginal 4 Geography EditMont Clare is located inside a bend of the Schuylkill River which forms the western and southern sides of the village The village is at a historical ford and present day bridge Originally settled between the river and a bluff the village has expanded northeastward up the bluff along Bridge Street PA Route 29 The lower part of Mont Clare is in the river flood plain In 1995 Montgomery County designated the Mont Clare Cliffs and Ravines as a natural area priority site 38 Extending upriver from Mont Clare along the Schuylkill this series of steep cliffs and deeply etched ravines are formed by the intersection of hard Lockatong Formation argillites with the river 39 Arts and culture EditMont Clare is primarily a residential community The village has two churches the Holy Archangel Michael Byzantine Catholic Church locally known as St Michael s and the Otterbein United Methodist Church Commercial concerns include Produce Junction Mont Clare Deli amp Market the old Eagle s Nest Deli amp Market 1996 2022 a professional office building and two local automobile repair shops A ten minute walk across the bridge accesses downtown Phoenixville s restaurants pubs and theater Mont Clare is the site of Lock 60 a fully restored and operating lock at the upstream end of the Oakes Reach of the Schuylkill Canal The lock tow path the restored lock tender s house and surrounding area form a park maintained by the Schuylkill Canal Association SCA The park is at the center of the Schuylkill Navigation Canal Oakes Reach Section Historic District The park includes a floating dock in the canal and a launch area on the river This complements a portage trail between the downstream end of the canal reach and the river The river portage canal and park form a 5 mile 8 0 km canoe and kayak loop St Michael s has a large recreation area on the left bank of the canal below the lock tender s house SCA s annual summer Canal Day festival usually spans both parks St Michael s park also hosts the annual Ancient Order of Hibernians local Irish Festival There is another park Port Providence Park on the canal between Mont Clare and Port Providence Until 2020 Mont Clare was the western end of the contiguous Schuylkill River Trail SRT out of Philadelphia The SRT now crosses the Mont Clare Bridge to continue westward through Phoenixville Montgomery County plans to improve and extend the parallel Schuylkill East Trail on the left bank of the river westward from Mont Clare creating a major trail junction at Mont Clare 40 Joseph Whitaker s Mont Clare estate home still stands on the corner of Bridge and Grace Streets Grace was Joseph s wife The home is currently occupied by three generations of Whitaker descendants Notable people EditBy 1760 David Todd had settled near Mont Clare 41 His sons John Robert and Levi were notable pioneers and helped found Lexington Kentucky Many of David s descendants were still living in the township in 1884 The most well known Todd descendants were Mary Todd Lincoln wife of U S President Abraham Lincoln and their son Robert Todd Lincoln Secretary of War under President Chester A Arthur 42 In 1855 future Mennonite Church leader and publisher John F Funk had his first job teaching in a one room school house in Quincyville 43 The eventual 23rd Governor of Pennsylvania Samuel W Pennypacker spent his boyhood at the Mont Clare estate of his maternal grandfather Joseph Whitaker 44 45 In 1862 Pennypacker had his first professional job teaching in a one room school house in the village 46 Mont Clare is the 1867 birthplace of the infamous outlaw Harry Alonzo The Sundance Kid Longabaugh 47 The movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid erroneously states Sundance was born in New Jersey 48 possibly due to confusion with Montclair New Jersey Sundance was born at 122 Jacobs Street 49 50 Sundance s mother s family Place was from Mont Clare with one relative Daniel Webster Place marrying Mary E Pennypacker in 1873 51 Harry A Place was the alias the Sundance Kid used when he married the woman known to history as Etta Place Sundance s parents Josiah and Annie Place Longabaugh and his sisters Samanna and Emma are buried in the nearby Morris Cemetery in Phoenixville Between 1882 and 1899 poet and local historian Christian Carmack Sanderson grew up living in Mont Clare and adjacent Port Providence 52 The home at 205 Jacobs Street is referred to as The Little Brick House in his writings In 1916 the Mont Clare estate was occupied by Phoebe Hunter Gilkyson a great granddaughter of Joseph Whitaker Mrs Gilkyson was a noted literary and social figure whose poems and stories were published in Harper s Scribner s and McClure s Magazines She also wrote a newspaper column Her husband Hamilton H Gilkyson Jr was a local business and civic leader 44 Phoebe s son Terry Gilkyson was a songwriter and musician Terry co authored the chart topping Memories Are Made of This and wrote the Oscar nominated The Bare Necessities from the 1967 movie The Jungle Book References Edit 2010 Demographic Profile Archived from the original on 13 February 2020 Retrieved 3 April 2016 Pennypacker Samuel Whitaker 1872 Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity From the Settlement to the Year 1871 Phoenixville PA Bavis amp Pennypacker printers pp 5 7 Ibid p 10 a b Bean Theodore W ed 1884 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ILLUSTRATED 1884 Philadelphia Everts amp Peck p 1047 a b c Pennypacker Samuel Whitaker J O K Robarts 1910 c 1880 The Story of Patrick Gordon Historical Sketches A Collection of Papers Vol IV Norristown PA Historical Society of Montgomery County Pennsylvania pp 26 30 Retrieved 8 August 2009 Bean p 348 Pennypacker Annals of Phoenixville p 107 Pennypacker Annals of Phoenixville p 282 Ibid p 175 a b From The Philadelphia Inquirer 6 December 1895 Named by Bayard Taylor The New York Times p 2 Retrieved 26 April 2008 Pennypacker Annals of Phoenixville p 144 Buck William Joseph 1859 History of Montgomery County Within the Schuylkill Valley Norristown E L Acker p 101 a b Post Offices Pennsylvania Montgomery County Retrieved 9 October 2010 a b Corporate Genealogy The Pennsylvania Railroad Archived from the original on 29 December 2007 Retrieved 16 March 2008 Burgess George H Kennedy Miles C 1949 Chapter L Simplification of Corporate Structure PDF The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1845 1945 Philadelphia The Pennsylvania Railroad Company p 509 Retrieved 27 June 2010 In Nearby Counties Reading Eagle Reading PA 19 November 1906 p 2 Retrieved 3 July 2015 The Pennsylvania Railroad Regional Map PDF November 1955 Retrieved 27 June 2010 Philadelphia Region Philadelphia District Map Archived from the original on 11 July 2012 Retrieved 29 November 2008 Surface transportation Board Discontinuance of Service Exemption Retrieved 20 February 2010 Mont Clare Fire Co About Us Archived from the original on 14 September 2010 Retrieved 7 November 2010 Black Rock Volunteer Fire Company Retrieved 11 August 2013 a b Hopkins G M 1871 Atlas of the County of Montgomery and the state of Pennsylvania Archived from the original on 2008 07 08 Retrieved 2008 04 26 Walling Henry F O W Gray 1872 New Topographical Atlas of the State of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Stedman Brown amp Lyon p 79 Retrieved 15 March 2009 Pennypacker Annals of Phoenixville pp various Old Maps Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area Retrieved 27 January 2012 a b Scott J D 1877 Combination Atlas of Montgomery County pp 56 57 Archived from the original on 2008 07 08 Retrieved 2008 04 26 Ibid p 27 Ibid p 28 The Schuylkill Canal or Oakes Reach Retrieved 15 March 2008 Bean p 1 Harley J K 1891 1881 A History and Geography of Montgomery County Pa together with County and Township Government Philadelphia p 67 While the 1891 Revised Edition of Harley was used it does not list the Penna RR line in Upper Providence so it is referred to here by the original 1881 publication date 1895 Atlas Pennsylvania Q Rh Retrieved 29 August 2010 United States George Minot George P Sanger 1850 The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America Dennis p 397 Retrieved 28 March 2009 Tompkins Lech Daniel D 1857 List of post offices in the United States John C Rives p 118 Retrieved 28 March 2009 BEAN S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER LXXII UPPER PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP pp 1057 8 Retrieved 7 July 2009 Correspondence with Neal Gilkyson Thorpe Phoebe s daughter 28 September 2010 Rhoads Anne F Timothy A Block June 30 2007 Montgomery County Pennsylvania Natural Areas Inventory Update PDF p 219 Archived from the original PDF on 18 July 2011 Retrieved 11 April 2009 Ibid p 212 MONTCO HAS PLAN TO BUILD 166 MILES OF BICYCLE TRAILS UPPER AND LOWER PROVIDENCE TWP MAP Retrieved 15 March 2009 Bean p 1048 JOURNAL OF THE QUINCYVILLE SCHOOL PDF Archived from the original PDF on 4 June 2011 Retrieved 14 March 2009 a b Hunsicker Clifton Swenk 1923 Montgomery County Pennsylvania a History Vol 3 New York Lewis Historical Pub Co pp 544 5 Retrieved 2009 04 05 Pennypacker Samuel Whitaker 1918 The Autobiography of a Pennsylvanian Philadelphia John C Winston Co p 61 Retrieved 12 April 2009 SAMUEL W PENNYPACKER PAPERS Retrieved 8 October 2010 The Schuylkill Canal Archived from the original on 8 February 2007 Retrieved 7 March 2007 Goofs for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Retrieved 20 May 2009 Harry A Longabaugh alias the Sundance Kid Retrieved 4 April 2016 Find Pennsylvania Hometowns Here Retrieved 15 March 2008 Descendants of Hendrick Pennebecker Sixth Generation Archived from the original on 10 November 2006 Retrieved 1 January 2010 Timeline The Life amp Times of Chris Sanderson Archived from the original on 27 February 2010 Retrieved 9 November 2009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mont Clare Pennsylvania amp oldid 1132163645, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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